National Strategy Implementation Learning Collaborative Meeting

Approaches to State Policymaking and Diversified Funding

Identifying strategies to sustain and scale up respite care services and supports to reach more family caregivers is one of the goals of this Learning Collaborative. At the last meeting, we catalogued activities and initiatives that Lifespan respite grantees and their partners have undertaken or are planning to do that align with the goals of the National Strategy. You can find and suggest additions to these in the matrix, State Lifespan Respite Grant Activities Aligned with National Strategy Goals and Outcomes. Scaling up these activities requires diversifying and increasing respite funding streams, and may also require state policy changes. One approach to increase state funds for respite or improve policies to better serve family caregivers is through state legislative or administrative advocacy.

At the April 20th LC meeting, we heard from Siena Ruggeri, Policy Analyst, Center for Consumer Engagement in Health Innovation, Community Catalyst on their Changing the Care Conversation Project. The project is a national learning and action-oriented initiative to improve support for family caregivers of older adults and people with disabilities, especially those with low and moderate incomes and caregivers of color. She described the impetus for the initiative, its purpose, and highlights from their work with 10 state-based family caregiving coalitions to advance state and federal policy solutions that strengthen supports for family caregivers.  She discussed the importance of storytelling as an advocacy strategy and shared a tool to assist in developing a story using the 27-9-3 rule.

We also heard from three Lifespan Respite Grant partners and coalition members about their unique approaches to effecting policy change and diversifying respite funding streams: Lisa Schneider, Executive Director, Respite Care Association of Wisconsin; Tracy Cieniewicz, Sustainability Director, Alabama Lifespan Respite; and Doris Green, Director, New York State Caregiving and Respite Coalition.

Past Webinars/Teleconferences on State Respite Legislation and Diversified Funding

State Respite Legislation – Advancing Respite for Family Caregivers, November 12, 2019.  Watch Webinar

Lifespan Respite Teleconference Recording: Looking Beyond Federal Funding: Examples of State Funding for Respite, July 18, 2018. Listen to Podcast